The department store chain will hold hiring events at nine Southern California stores Saturday, and a grand opening will also be held for a new location in Montebello. Kohl’s is looking to fill full- and part-time seasonal positions for everything from freight processors and sales associates to customer service employees and online order takers.

Hiring at stores in Glendora, Ontario, Irvine and more

The job fairs will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Kohl’s stores in Glendora, Northridge, Sun Valley, Downey, Ontario, Upland, Fontana, Irvine and Laguna Niguel. Each store that’s hosting an event is hiring for that specific location. Addresses for the stores and details on the hiring process can be found here.

The company is also hiring seasonal positions for its e-commerce fulfillment center and distribution center, both of which are in San Bernardino.

Kohl’s hasn’t posted the pay scale for its job openings, but figures from Glassdoor reveal that sales associates at Kohl’s earn a base pay of $9 an hour, and customer service employees start at $10 an hour. It should be noted, however, that the prevailing minimum wage in regions through Southern California will boost those hourly rates.

Los Angeles County, for example, hiked its minimum wage for businesses with 26 or more employees from $10.50 to $12 an hour in July.

Kohl’s will hold hiring events at more than 200 stores throughout the U.S. on Saturday. The Wisconsin-based retailer declined to reveal the total number of seasonal workers it plans to hire this year. But in an email, company officials said the hiring will be “at a similar level” to previous years. In 2016, Kohl’s announced plans to hire more than 69,000 temporary workers ahead of the holidays.

Kohl’s said 14,000 of last year’s seasonal hires became permanent employees.

Other retailers have already announced their seasonal hiring numbers. Target, for example, plans to 95,000 temporary employees for the holidays. Others include Toys R Us (13,000), Macy’s (80,000) and J.C. Penney (40,000). Beyond the world of retail, UPS plans to hire 95,000 seasonal workers and FedEx is looking to hire 50,000.

Total seasonal hiring not announced

Kohl’s’ decision to not reveal its exact number of holiday hires is bucking an industry trend. Retailers typically announce their planned hiring and economists and retail analysts use that as a gauge of shopper demand ahead of Black Friday, which kicks off the traditional holiday shopping season.

Kohl’s reluctance to release a total number may be tied, in part, to declining sales. The company’s 2017 Fact Book report shows total sales for 2016 topped out at $18.7 billion, down from $19.2 billion the previous year.

A new strategy

“They are moving to better, higher-quality brands and they are trying to give their experienced team members more hours per week, which they have been asking for,” he said. “By giving them more hours and paying higher wages, they will get higher shopping satisfaction scores.”

Kohl’s is home to a variety of national brands, including Under Armour, Nike, Adidas, Levi’s, New Balance and FILA Sport, among others.

“Kohl’s is aware that Target and other retailers have been cutting employee hours over the past couple years and those companies have had a big turnover of employees,” Flickinger said. “They might see former Target employees show up at their job fairs — people who are looking for a career with Kohl’s rather than having their hours whipsawed from month to month.”

Montebello grand opening

The grand opening for the new Kohl’s at 2441 Via Campo in Montebello will be held at 8:45 a.m. Saturday. The 35,000-square-foot store at 2441 Via Campo will feature updated check-out stations, newly designed shopping carts and strollers, redesigned fitting rooms and WiFi throughout the store.

Kevin Smith handles business news and editing for the Southern California News Group, which includes 11 newspapers, websites and social media channels. He covers everything from employment, technology and housing to retail, corporate mergers and business-based apps. Kevin often writes stories that highlight the local impact of trends occurring nationwide. And the focus is always to shed light on why those issues matter to readers in Southern California.

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